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Friday, 13 January 2012

THE MAYOR OF Ennis has hit back at claims that the Clare town is
racist following the jailing of a man for an attack on a black taxi
driver in the town.
Independent councillor Michael Guilfoyle said
that integration is “alive and well in Ennis”, and that he took
exception to the portrayal of the town in the media after the attack.
“There
are people from 26 different nationalities living in the town and we
work hard to make every effort to make sure they enjoy living here,” he
told TheJournal.ie.
“The depiction of Ennis as racist is not the town I know,” Guilfoyle said.
The
Mayor made the comments after a man was jailed for 9 months last week
for an assault on the Nigerian-born taxi driver. The assailant knocked
out two of Bartholomew Omoifo’s teeth and subjected him to racist abuse.
Guilfoyle
condemned the assault on Omoifo, noting that local media had portrayed
the town as a racist place and he had “taken exception to that – Ennis
is not a racist town”.
Green councillor Brian Meaney raised the
issue at a meeting of Ennis Town Council earlier this week when
colleagues from other parts of Clare had suggested to him that Ennis was
a racist town, Guilfoyle said.
One of the largest taxi drivers
groups last week said that it was “not aware” of any widespread racism
against black taxi drivers.